Carers Leeds is a charity that provides advice, support and information to unpaid adult and parent carers across Leeds. They inform carers about their rights, offer opportunities for carers to receive support and attend wellbeing activities, and signpost to relevant services.
Since 2020, 100% Digital Leeds has supported Carers Leeds to develop their digital support service, ensuring all carers can confidently access online resources essential to their caring role as well as their own wellbeing. Case studies demonstrating the impact of the organisation’s digital offer are available on the Carers Leeds website, such as How Digital Support Helped Tristan Reconnect and Relax.
Most recently Carers Leeds have expanded their digital inclusion support to include a Digital Befriending service, with funding from Good Things Foundation. The service is staffed by volunteers, based on their successful Befriending Service model.
“As a service, we want to improve the outcomes of carers and offer as much support as we can. Digital Befriending is two things in one. Digital Befrienders will look at everything and get a really clear idea of what support the carer needs. By the end of the befriending session, the carer has got so much more from the experience than they initially anticipated. They’re more confident in tech, but they’ve also had that personal connection that leads to real high-quality support. If carers get that, they’re much more likely to continue. Firstly, with the digital things that they’ve learned about, but they might also try going out a little bit more or connecting with others a bit more.”
Digital Carer Support Worker, Carers Leeds
How the Digital Befriending service the meets needs of Carers Leeds and carers
Carers Leeds’s digital support service initially offered both one-to-one and drop-in digital sessions. The drop-in sessions were designed to be group sessions, allowing carers to bring their digital questions and receive support from Carers Leeds staff. These sessions were sometimes difficult to access for their members, who found that they were unable to attend due to their caring commitments.
The service’s one-to-one provision was very popular because sessions could be held at a time and place chosen by the carer and could take place over a period of weeks. As they were being run solely by the Digital Inclusion Worker the number of sessions that could take place was limited, and the organisation struggled to meet demand. Carers Leeds identified that they needed to expand and tailor their service to be able to provide more opportunities for one-to-one digital support.
“Travelling around Leeds all the time made it difficult for me to support all the carers to the same kind of quality and standard as I would have hoped. The high demand for one-to-one sessions in the carer’s home or local community meant carers were having to wait longer between sessions, which was breaking up continuity, making it difficult for carers to make any progress with their digital skills and confidence. From that point, we started to have discussions about how a Digital Befriending Project might work.”
Digital Carer Support Worker, Carers Leeds
Carers Leeds’s Digital Befriending service is a more informal offer than the service’s traditional digital skills support service. Digital Befriending is more about social contact and looks at a person’s needs more holistically than a digital drop-in, meaning support can more easily be tailored to the needs of the individual. Over the course of the sessions the Befrienders ask about the carer’s day and how they are emotionally, including helping them with whatever digital support they might need at that time. With the greater the number of sessions, and the increased focus on holistic needs, it means Digital Befrienders and carers have the time to develop a trusted relationship, leading to improved outcomes.
“Carers can have more sessions with a Digital Befriender than they can with a member of staff. We can personalise the match, which means carers respond better. We try to match carers with a Digital Befriender who has similar interests, for example, if both are interested in gardening. It’s just a bit more personal, and I think people respond better when there’s a good relationship in place, rather than it just being a troubleshooting thing.
Digital Carer Support Worker, Carers Leeds
Recruiting, training, and supporting Digital Befrienders
To develop their Digital Befriending service, Carers Leeds built upon the learning and best practice from their existing Befriending service, embedding digital inclusion into the existing Befriending training programme and infrastructure.
“One of the positives of running Digital Befrienders is that we could merge the inductions that form part of our traditional Befriending project and the digital project. A lot of the skills that are needed for traditional befriending support, such as lone working and meeting carers in a home or community setting, are the same as those which would be needed from a Digital Befriender. For example, part of the training includes safeguarding, learning about empathy and how to respond when a carer gets upset or is distressed, as well as other things like data protection, lone working, and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). So, blending the services together worked well.”
Digital Carer Support Worker, Carers Leeds
The Digital Befriending Service is staffed by volunteers and managed by the Carer Befriender Coordinator, To find volunteers for the service Carers Leeds advertise the opportunity on their website and social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as the Doing Good Leeds volunteer recruitment page, Be Collective.
Potential volunteers are invited to have a chat with the digital Inclusion Worker to assess both their interpersonal and digital skills. Potential volunteers are asked about their digital skills, for example: their familiarity with Apple and Android systems, whether they know how to use laptops, and the apps they use or have some knowledge of. The Carer Befriender Coordinator also checks that the potential volunteer has the general holistic skills required to be a Befriender, such as whether they’re easy to talk to.
“In a way it is far more important to be able to relate to a carer and know how much reinforcement that person needs and the right speed to go at, than having loads and loads of knowledge about all sorts of operating systems that they may never use for example.”
Volunteer Digital Befriender, Carers Leeds
Befrienders receive ten hours of training, including learning about appropriate boundaries, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and confidentiality. They learn about active listening and empathy, what the limits of befriending are, and the boundaries around maintaining a professional relationship. All Befrienders receive a phone and a SIM card from Carers Leeds for use during Befriending calls.
Befrienders receive regular supervision from the Carer Befriender Coordinator. Carers Leeds also run a peer support group for all the Befrienders, meeting every three months, where Befrienders can talk about good practice and share information. The organisation also runs social events like an annual picnic for staff and Befrienders. At the end of their volunteering period Carers Leeds have a final one-to-one with the Digital Befriender to see what they thought went well and how the Digital Befriending experience may be improved.
Engaging and supporting carers with Digital Befriending
The initial point of contact between Carers Leeds and carers accessing the service for the first time is often via the Carers Leeds Support Line. When they contact the support line, carers are taken through a set of triaging questions to identify the right support needed. Though Carers Leeds consider the digital inclusion needs of carers from the first interaction, and digital support is offered at this point, carers may not take up this support, prioritising the resolution of more immediate issues before tackling digital skills and confidence.
“Some carers get referred straight into me and others will call back when it works for them. We’ve found that it has to be the right time for digital stuff. A lot of the time when someone calls the Carers Leeds Support Line, they’ve got lots of fires to fight and digital is not a priority.”
Digital Inclusion Worker, Carers Leeds
At the point of requesting digital support, carers are referred to the Digital Inclusion Worker who complete a Digital Support Assessment with the carer. This helps the service to understand the barriers each carer faces, the level of support required, and what will motivate the carer to engage with digital. The carer is asked questions about their access to equipment and connectivity, their digital support needs and concerns, and how confident they feel with various online activities like staying safe or managing finances. Carers then choose their support preferences, including when and where they would like to have their one-to-one sessions.
Carers are partnered with Digital Befrienders based on who the organisation feels would be a good fit for each individual, based on personalities, personal interests, and learning styles. Digital Befrienders meet carers in their homes or in a public space such a library or a café, which is local to the carer and somewhere they feel relaxed and comfortable.
“Libraries are ideal places to meet. They’re warm and they have free drinks available when they are designated Welcome Spaces. Carers are often so isolated so it’s really nice to be able to go to a Library or a Community Hub or another community setting where carers can see that there are other things going on that they may want to get involved in.”
Digital Inclusion Worker, Carers Leeds
Carers are offered three sessions in the first instance, with the option to receive a maximum of 12 sessions. The number of sessions provided is tailored to the carer, with most requiring between four and eight sessions. The first session is with both the Digital Inclusion Worker and the volunteer Digital Befriender. As the carer will already have had some contact with Digital Inclusion worker this means that the first session is taking place both in a space that feels familiar and safe to the carer, and with a familiar person who can make that introduction to the volunteer.
“Having the first meeting together is valuable for all three of us in different ways. Because the carer has already had some contact from the Digital Inclusion Worker, the carer trusts them. The Digital Inclusion Worker can make a warm introduction to the Digital Befriender and can see the sort of interactions that are going on. She will leave the session at some point, which is usually fairly soon, when she’s reassured that both the carer and the Digital Befriender are happy and she’s comfortable theirs is going to be a good match.”
Volunteer Digital Befriender, Carers Leeds
Digital Befriending sessions are run in a person-centred way. Digital Befrienders consider how the carer is feeling in that moment first and foremost, then they think about how to support them with digital in a way that works for them.
“I think in every single case, every person I have supported, it’s never been just about their digital skills and confidence. It almost can’t be, because I know when somebody arrives, I can see how their mindset is, and if they’ve had a really difficult time with their caring role that week. They have the space if they choose to offload some of that. At that point, the carer may need somebody to give them some positive validation instead of jumping straight into the digital support.”
Volunteer Digital Befriender, Carers Leeds
Because Digital Befrienders really get to know carers and their circumstances, digital support can be offered in the context of overcoming carers’ day-to-day challenges. Tasks have included setting up online accounts, being systematic and secure in the use of passwords, use of email, social media, video conferencing, and online banking.
“A few weeks in carers can come and say ‘this thing happened this week and I don’t know how to deal with it. Can we deal with it?’ and I can offer practical help. It might be something like, ‘how do I track this parcel delivery?’ Or it might be ‘I can’t sleep and I’ve heard this advert for a sleep app, but I don’t know how to get the app’. It’s really nice to talk to the carer about that something that has popped up for them and have them realise, ‘yeah, that’s what I want to learn about today.’”
Digital Inclusion Worker, Carers Leeds
Because sessions are delivered one-to-one over a maximum period of up to 12 weeks, Digital Befrienders can support carers to develop their digital skills at their own pace, taking into account each carer’s confidence levels.
“It’s about trying to make it fun and not too overwhelming. Support is very much person-centred so that you can see the pace the carer needs to go at, and how much reinforcement they need with a new digital skill or tool before they’re ready to move onto the next thing.”
Volunteer Digital Befriender, Carers Leeds
“I try to be extra warm, without being patronising, and say, ‘tell me if you’ve got any concerns.’ You want them to be as relaxed as possible so that they can say, look, I’m terrified of this. I can remember one person I supported at the end of the first session, she said, ‘I came in a millimetre tall, and I feel I’ve gone out a six-footer.’ Her increase in confidence had that effect.”
Volunteer Digital Befriender, Carers Leeds
After a carer has finished working with their Digital Befriender they are asked to complete an evaluation about their experience. They are asked about the support they have received from their Digital Befriender and what skills they have learned. Within the evaluation the carer is asked to look back at the Digital Support Assessment questions they were asked before they received digital support, and to reflect on how their digital skills and confidence have improved.
“I’ll always remember something one of the carers I was supporting said to me. I had shown her how to do something on her phone and then she tried it without my help and she kept saying, ‘oh, is that all it is?’ It was just so empowering and demystifying for her. She said she had always felt like she was a lesser person because she lacked digital skills and confidence. It’s wonderful for me to be able to see their progress.”
Volunteer Digital Befriender, Carers Leeds
Points to consider when designing your Digital Befriending programme.
- Building on existing infrastructure: Does your organisation already have a befriending service that could be built upon to develop a Digital Befriending service? What systems will you need to have in place before you can start to advertise the role?
- Recruitment: How will you find your Digital Befrienders? Will you advertise on your own website and social media? Will you advertise through your local volunteer infrastructure charity, e.g., Voluntary Action Leeds? Will you attend local volunteer recruitment fairs?
- Assessing the suitability of volunteers: How will you ensure that prospective volunteers are digitally confident and suitable for the role? What broader values, skills and experience will you require from your volunteers?
- Training and supervision: What training and support will Digital Befrienders need? Will you organise regular check-ins? Would peer support groups be useful spaces for your volunteers to discuss their work?
- Safeguarding: How will you ensure that professional barriers are maintained?
- Digital needs assessments: How will you identify service users that might benefit from a Digital Befriender? How will you assess each service user’s digital support needs?
- Pairing Befrienders with service users: How will you ensure a good fit between Digital Befriender and service user?
- Location: Where will volunteers meet with service users? Local cafes and libraries are warm, familiar and neutral spaces, but some service users may prefer home visits – is this something you might be able to offer?
- Timescales: How long will the Digital Befriending period last for each individual service user? Will this be a set length of time, or will it depend on need and capacity? What will happen once the Digital Befriending period comes to an end?
- Evaluation and reflection: How will you evaluate the programme to make sure each Digital Befriending experience has been useful for both the service user and your organisation?